Members and officers of the San Esteban Schools Alumni Association, members and officers of the San Esteban Circle of California, kakaillian, guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen:
First, let me thank you, Luz, for a generous introduction. Then let me welcome everyone to this august affair in September - just a little play of words there.
I am deeply delighted and grateful to be here this evening and to be given this occasion to share my thoughts, aspirations, and, hopefully, some words of wisdom with you.
I wish I were more eloquent in Ilocano, the lingua franca of many of us, but tonight, you’ll have to bear with me in the language I know best, English. Speaking of the Ilocano dialect, I am reminded of a story of an old Ilocano who was to take his exam for Canadian citizenship. Just prior to his exam, he was being coached by his Canadian-born grandchildren on Canadian matters. At his exam, the examiner told him he was going to ask only one question and that was: what is the national anthem of Canada? Alas, that was one thing his grandchildren did not teach him. So cursing quite loudly at his grandchildren for such failure and referring to them, he muttered, quite distinctly, “okininada,” whereupon the examiner exclaimed, “You’re right! It’s ‘O Canada’.” The old man passed the exam. Ah, that’s the beauty of Ilocano. Certainly, the Wikang Pambansa or Tagalog or any of the other Filipino dialects wouldn’t have helped here.
On the more serious side, I was told that the organization’s focus this year is on the youth. I would like to dwell therefore on the youth and education tonight - not just any youth though. I want to speak about the Filipino youth in general and, more specifically, about the youth of our town of San Esteban - today’s school children, like many of us were at one time or another. Let us first recognize the condition, the status of their education; and these include the problems they now face. Then let us look at their prospects for a better tomorrow. Finally, let us see what can be done to improve their lot; more specifically, what we - you, me, the organization - can do to help them, given the constraints of our wherewithal.
The Philippine educational system is beset with problems which emanate from, among other things including poverty and greed and corruption, the failure of national leadership, failures in goverment, our legal system and law enforcement, and in almost every institution or system that affects society. In the ultimate analyis, all of these are due to the frailty, the weakness of the human spirit and the absence of high moral values in the Filipino. Indeed, the problems that plague the Philippine society also afflict its educational system.
In the Philippine educational system, we all know there is a lack of school supplies, books, reference materials, computers and stable energy to run them, ad infinitum. The various curricula, we realize, need to be improved in the areas of science, mathematics and the humanities. And then, too, the quality of instruction definitely needs to get better.
What is the outlook for a better tomorrow? Surely, there is hope; and we should never give up hope. But, at the risk of sounding cynical, unless there is drastic change in the human spirit and an emergence of high moral values in the Filipino, that hope is simply not just around the corner. There must be a moral upheaval in the Filipino soul When the billionaire Chinese-Filipino businessman, Lucio Tan, was recently asked how long he thinks it will take the Philippines to get out of its present moral morass, he responded, “a hundred years,” and he was deadly serious. And how can one not concur with his views, when more than five centuries of Christianity have failed to instill good moral values in the Filipino? Truly, the moral decadence of the Filipino since the Second World War is an indictment on religion, the Filipinos being more than 80 per cent Roman Catholics, and it shouldn’t be.
I am aware of the San Esteban municipal scholarship program, to which many of us have contributed, and another personal scholarship endeavor of our good friend and compatriot, Dr. Ben Galindo of Hawaii. But these programs benefit only a few students - only the “brightest” at a point in time - and leave the majority of students not to have such similar opportunities. It would be ideal if all students, including average and perhaps some below average ones, are afforded equal opportunities. This is because individuals develop at different paces. Some average ones now may become “brighter” or more successful than those who display more intelligence now. The great Albert Einstein, for instance, was not even a prodigy in high school; he showed his prowess only when he was in college.
The problem then is this: what can be done to address this problem of equal opportunities, given that financial resources are limited. I’d like to suggest that we establish or, if there is one already, help maintain a good school or municipal library, which we can help stock with appropriate or the best in reading materials - books and periodicals. We can even eventually provide it with documentaries and audio-visual equipment, including satellite TV and, when the right circumstances exist, have a computer or two for teacher-student research needs. With such an institution and with life being a process of continuous learning, teachers will have a means for “continuing their education” and students will have equal access to learning materials.
The library would therefore provide a means for the youth, indeed, the citizenry, to become better or well-informed. That is our aspiration , our cherished goal: to make the Filipino well-informed. While the education of our youth is crucial, making them well-informed is even more critical. For the well-informed individual should be able to make better judgements and choices in life, and not sell their souls or their votes to traditional politicians. This is imperative for a better Philippines and for a better and more peaceful world.
To be sure, being educated does not necessarily mean being well-formed; and neither being educated nor being well-informed translate to having high moral values. But I’d take being educated and being well-informed than not being so, anyday.
I know if I had access to a good library in my student days in San Esteban, I would have learned sooner, for instance, about the massacre of Filipinos at Balanggiga, the ordeal in the province of Samar at the turn of the 20th century. This would have given me a better perspective of Philippine-American history and relationship in my youth.
Let me close by citing the 20th century Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset. In his 1930 book, The Revolt of the Masses, he conjectured that the dangers of a democracy lie in the fact that the will of the masses would endure because the masses always constitute the majority, the enlightened being but a few. In the past sixty years, the Philippines has validated this conjecture; hopefully, our educated and well-formed youth may, one day, invalidate it. For that seems to be the only way to stop and turn around the moral degradation, evidenced by the greed and corruption, that is so pervasive in Philippine institutions and society today.
Thank you for your kind attention.
